| Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959) |
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The 1959 Candidates Tournament was hosted by three cities in Yugoslavia. The first 14 rounds were played in Bled, rounds 15-21 in Zagreb, and rounds 22-28 in Belgrade. This event would select the next challenger to world champion Mikhail Botvinnik, who had just recaptured the title in the Smyslov - Botvinnik World Championship Rematch (1958). Mikhail Tal, Svetozar Gligorić, Pal Benko, Tigran Petrosian, Friðrik Ólafsson and Bobby Fischer qualified from the Portoroz Interzonal (1958). Vasily Smyslov earned a place in the event as the losing player in the previous championship match, while Paul Keres was seeded directly into the candidates tournament on the strength of his second place finish in the previous Amsterdam Candidates (1956). Harry Golombek was arbiter, and the seconds were Bent Larsen (Fischer), Yuri Averbakh, joined later by Alexander Koblents (Tal), Vladas Mikenas (Keres), Isaac Boleslavsky (Petrosian),
Igor Bondarevsky (Smyslov)
Aleksandar Matanovic (Gligorić), Klaus Darga and Ingi Randver Johannsson (Ólafsson), and Rudolf Maric (Benko).1, 2 Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 7 September - 29 October 1959 3 1 Tal XXXX 0010 ==== 01=1 1111 1=11 111= 111= 20
2 Keres 1101 XXXX 0=== 1==0 0101 ==11 1110 1111 18.5
3 Petrosian ==== 1=== XXXX ==0= 11== 0==1 100= =11= 15.5
4 Smyslov 10=0 0==1 ==1= XXXX ==10 0=10 =1=1 =011 15
5 Fischer 0000 1010 00== ==01 XXXX 10== 01=1 =1=1 12.5
6 Gligoric 0=00 ==00 1==0 1=01 01== XXXX ==10 =1== 12.5
7 Olafsson 000= 0001 011= =0=0 10=0 ==01 XXXX 00=1 10
8 Benko 000= 0000 =00= =100 =0=0 =0== 11=0 XXXX 8
The players would meet each other four times, twice in Bled and once in both Zagreb and Belgrade. In Bled, the players stayed at the Grand Hotel Toplice, the site of Alexander Alekhine's historic triumph in Bled (1931). 4 Mikhail Tal had just had his appendix removed less than two weeks earlier, but FIDE insisted he make it in time for the tournament. According to Tal, "I was not much troubled by the effects of the operation, apart from in a purely mechanical sense; during a game I did not feel inclined to stroll about ..."5 This information may have come as a surprise to Harry Golombek, who commented after Round 5 that "it is an impressive sight to see him (Tal) get up after he has made what he obviously thinks is a winning move and pace around the table like a man-eating tiger."6 It may also have surprised Bobby Fischer, who complained after his first game with Tal that whenever he "rose from the board ... he'd begin talking to the other Soviet players, and they enjoyed whispering about their or others' positions."7 Pal Benko later revealed that due to his "demanding" job in a US brokerage firm, he "didn't prepare at all" for the event, although he reckoned "I did reasonably well."8 He didn't. After the first cycle Tal, Paul Keres and Tigran Petrosian shared the lead.During the second cycle, shortly after the beginning of Round 8, Golombek remarked to Fischer on how many Caro Kanns the Soviets had been playing. Bobby replied "they are all just chicken; they just don't want to face B-QB4 against the Sicilian."6 Tal emerged the hero of Round 8 with his spectacular win over Vasily Smyslov. He won the brilliancy prize by crushing the ex-world champion with a series of sacrifices he later described as "pure improvisation": Tal vs Smyslov, 1959 9 Such improvisation did not serve him as well in his Round 10 encounter with co-leader Keres, who "seemed to enjoy taking all the material Tal was offering": Tal vs Keres, 1959. According to Golombek, "most onlookers thought (Tal) might well have resigned ten moves earlier."10 Though Tal finished off the cycle with three straight wins, it was Keres who led by a half point when the players set off for Zagreb. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the first two cycles was the lackluster play of Smyslov, who trailed a full four points behind Keres. Golombek had noticed that in his Round 11 game against Benko, "Smyslov seemed to be struggling, not only against his opponent, but against himself": Benko vs Smyslov, 1959 11 Now it seemed it was Petrosian's turn to struggle. Though he finished the second cycle respectably close to the leaders, he too would fall back to join Smyslov in the middle of the table. According to his biographer Vik Vasiliev, "It was ... the uncompromising vigor of ... Tal and Keres ... which troubled Petrosian ... He began to reckon his chances of success as extremely small."12 Petrosian's Round 15 game can't have helped his spirits, though it became one of very few bright spots for Friðrik Ólafsson: Petrosian vs F Olafsson, 1959. Their adjourned game was finished on a balcony overlooking Zagreb's Republic Square, where a giant demonstration board had been erected: "A crowd of ... 5,000 assembled to watch. Olafsson won to ... great acclamations ... When he tried to go back to the hotel ... the crowd insisted on carrying him on their shoulders."13 Tal led Keres by a point and a half as the final cycle began in the 2,000 seat Belgrade Trade Union House, with the rest of the field trailing far behind.14 Smyslov's woes continued in Round 22 when he blundered so badly against Tal that a Russian journalist actually sent in a report that Smyslov had won the game, and "later had to contact Moscow again by telephone and eat his words": Tal vs Smyslov, 1959. 14 Keres showed he was still full of fight in Round 24 when he won the best game prize against Tal: Tal vs Keres, 1959. The hometown favorite, Yugoslavian grandmaster Gligorić, had played a disappointing tournament until he beat Smyslov in Round 26 in just eighteen moves: Smyslov vs Gligoric, 1959. Needless to say, this created quite a stir. As Golombek later described the scene, "There came a full-throated roar from over 2,000 (spectators) ... and it was quite impossible for the other players to continue their games. So I hurriedly asked Gligorić and Smyslov to vacate the stage at once."15 With one round to go, Tal only needed a half point against Benko to win the tournament. Benko showed up wearing dark sunglasses, "fearing- or pretending to fear the hypnotic power of Tal's eyes."16 Unfazed, Tal easily forced an early draw by perpetual check to emerge victorious over Keres and all the rest. He thus earned the right to face Mikhail Botvinnik in the Botvinnik - Tal World Championship Match (1960). Photos
Bled: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped... Grand Hotel Toplice: http://fairhotels.si/images/joomlar... Zagreb Republic Square: https://previews.123rf.com/images/t... Belgrade Trade Union House: http://buki81.files.wordpress.com/2... Notes
1 Harry Golombek, 4th Candidates' Tournament, 1959 - Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade - September 7th - October 29th (Hardinge Simpole, 2009 (First published as BCM Quarterly No. 3, 1960)), p. vi.
2 Tidskrift för Schack, Oct. 1959, p. 229; De Telegraaf, 10 Sept. 1959, p. 13.
3 De Tijd De Maasbode, 7 Sept. 1959, p. 12 (http://kranten.delpher.nl/nl/view/i... De Waarheid, 30 Oct. 1959, p. 3 (http://kranten.delpher.nl/nl/view/i...).
4 Golombek, p. 1.
5 Mikhail Tal, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal (Cadogan 1997), p. 117.
6 Golombek, p. 77.
7 Frank Brady, Endgame (Crown Publishers 2011), Chapter Five The Gold War Gladiator.
8 Pal Benko and Jeremy Silman, Pal Benko - My Life, Games and Compositions (Siles Press 2003), p. 86.
9 Tal, p. 119.
10 Golombek, p. 98.
11 Golombek, p. 107.
12 Vik L. Vasiliev, Tigran Petrosian - His Life and Games, Michael Basman transl. (Batsford 1974), p. 91.
13 Golombek, pp. 148-149.
14 Golombek, p. 218.
15 Golombek, p. 254.
16 Golombek, p. 272.
Additional reading: http://chessreview.co.uk/tournament... Game Collection: Bled Candidates Mirror. Original collection Game Collection: WCC Index (Candidates Tournament 1959) by User: Resignation Trap; Introduction written and sourced by User: WCC Editing Project.
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| page 5 of 5; games 101-112 of 112 |
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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Oct-31-21 | | fabelhaft: <Smyslov was five years younger and Gligoric, seven> Indeed, even if the average age difference Keres vs others was 15 years and over 28 rounds that should have some effect. The field was also quite strong, with Keres facing Chessmetrics #1, #2 and #3. |
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| Oct-31-21 | | fabelhaft: Candidates winners were fairly young, in the sequence Bronstein-Smyslov-Smyslov-Tal-Petrosian-Spassky--
Spassky-Fischer-Karpov 1950-74 the oldest winner was Smyslov at 34. Keres was 40, 43 and 46 when finishing second. Korchnoi destroyed the list of fairly young Candidates winners. Common with Candidates winners in their 20s also lately though, like Kasparov, Short, Anand, Shirov, Leko, Carlsen, Karjakin, Caruana. Nepo is no extreme youth in that respect, winning the Candidates at 31 (the same age as Spassky the second time he won it) even if he feels comparatively young, maybe because he hasn’t been in the top ten for more than a couple of years. |
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Nov-14-21
 | | PaulPetrovitj: The best way to experience the strength of these players is in my opinion to try to figure out the moves as if you are playing the game yourself in a tournament setting. Only afterwards should one study comments or check with a computer engine. |
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Oct-21-23
 | | FSR: Knowing that <MissScarlett> enjoys such updates, I will note that Olafsson is the only player from this tournament who is still with us. |
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Oct-21-23
 | | plang: You clearly don't participate in many seances. |
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Oct-21-23
| | FSR: <plang> Guilty as charged. |
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| Oct-22-23 | | syracrophy: One of the most elegant sets was designed after this monumental event. |
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Oct-22-23
| | FSR: Striking that Tal only lost four games, the same number as Petrosian. But Tal won sixteen games, Petrosian only seven. Three of Tal's losses were to Keres! |
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| Oct-22-23 | | syracrophy: <FSR> Interesting evaluation. Has been curious for me how Petrosian had a headache with Olafsson with a score (+1-2). Though Petrosian could defeat Keres - an only victory and three draws. And then is curious how Keres dominated Tal. And Tal over Fischer. And the Fischer-Keres match-up was great for the veteran vs younger stories. |
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Oct-22-23
| | FSR: <sycraphony> Someone once made a non-transitive series: Korchnoi beats Tal. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... Tal beats Portisch. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... Portisch beats Keres. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... Keres beats Korchnoi. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... |
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Oct-22-23
| | FSR: Sorry, that should be <syracrophy>. |
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| Jan-20-25 | | ewan14: A flawed tournament
Keres beating Tal head to head
Tal and Petrosian pre arranging a draw / draws but Petrosian beating Keres |
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Jan-20-25
 | | perfidious: While it has long been a matter of record that there was a pact at Curacao, in the next Candidates event, there is no reason to believe this happened here, unless, of course, one believes in conspiracy theories. |
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| Jan-21-25 | | ewan14: It is a recorded fact that Tal and Petrosian played at least one pre - arranged draw in this tournament
.
Due to the criticism they received for a previous shortish , but genuine, draw Not much respect for Keres |
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| Jan-21-25 | | ewan14: Tal admitted it in his book
Mentioned here for the third cycle game |
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Feb-21-25
 | | GrahamClayton: Fischer scored only 3/7 as White playing the Two Knights Variation against the Caro-Kann - from 1960 he switched to the Panov Attack. |
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Feb-21-25
| | perfidious: <GrahamClayton: Fischer scored only 3/7 as White playing the Two Knights Variation against the Caro-Kann - from 1960 he switched to the Panov Attack.> While Fischer played the Panov during 1960--vs Ivkov and Euwe--it is clearly incorrect to imply that it was his preference thenceforth, as a perusal of the table below will reveal: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che... |
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May-28-25
| | perfidious: Film from this event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHE... |
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| May-28-25 | | sudoplatov: Keres was +3 -5 =0 against the Sicilian here.
Lifetime +573 -95 =393. |
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Jul-01-25
 | | Sally Simpson: Donner writes that Bobby asked him to be his second for this event, he advised a 16 year old alone in a foreign country should have his mum with him. Larsen went instead and was driven to despair because Bobby insisted on using the same 'suspect' variation against the Caro Kann. Later when Bobby listed his top ten players Donner was miffed because he was not mentioned. (it's a joke) He added Bobby did not forget him, he left him out of purpose to upset him. 'To list such dunces as Chigorin and Steinitz but to omit me- how dare he, the little brat.' |
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| Jul-01-25 | | Petrosianic: <ewan14>: <Tal admitted it in his book> Tal wrote more than one book. |
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| Jul-01-25 | | Petrosianic: <perfidious>: <While it has long been a matter of record that there was a pact at Curacao, in the next Candidates event, there is no reason to believe this happened here, unless, of course, one believes in conspiracy theories.> It's never been a matter of record, just something a lot of people believe. It doesn't matter, anyway. Fischer didn't claim he lost at Curacao because of draws. He claimed he lost because Korchnoi threw games to the others. The draws were only cited as evidence that he threw the games (they could afford to draw because they knew they'd be getting points from Korchnoi). Of course Fischer never explained why Korchnoi would throw games to multiple players, rather than just to one designated winner, but he had to believe that everyone who finished above him had cheated. In that way he felt he'd actually won, though what value there is in winning a tournament where half the participants have been disqualified is unclear. I wouldn't be surprised if it were true. Pre-arranged draws are so common in chess that Reshevsky once had the temerity to complain to the tournament director that Benko was violating an (illegal) agreement to draw the game. But "wouldn't be surprised" isn't the same thing as "confirmed". |
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| Jul-02-25 | | ewan14: Tal wrote more than one book.
Obviously he wasn't pre arranging at least one draw with Petrosian then .
ROFL |
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| Jul-02-25 | | ewan14: Korchnoi suffered more than Fischer , Korchnoi was the early leader There is an interview with Averbakh where he is asked about Curacao . He answered along the lines that Geller , Keres and Petrosian were friends ( two out of three ain"t bad ) and they were not going to expend ( too much ) energy playing against each other |
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| Jul-03-25 | | Petrosianic: <ewan14: Korchnoi suffered more than Fischer , Korchnoi was the early leader> Korchnoi did it to himself. Even though they were playing a marathon tournament in a tropical climate, Korchnoi was going all out to win every game, didn't pace himself, and fell apart about halfway through. At the time, Korchnoi saw absolutely no value in pacing himself. There's a story in Chess Is My life, where Korchnoi saw one of Geller's quick draws, and asked him who he expected to beat playing like that. Korchnoi just laughed when Geller said "YOU!" But that's what happened. It was Fischer that cracked him. When Korchnoi blew this dead won game against Fischer, he went to pieces. He did manage to win the next game against tail-ender Filip, but then lost four more games in a row, one of them to Tal, who he usually beat. Korchnoi vs Fischer, 1962 Only in hindsight did Korchnoi see any value in choosing his battles better. Then Fischer turned around and claimed Korchnoi must have been throwing games, while neglecting to mention that he'd triggered the collapse himself. This is what happens when the losers write the history. |
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